Szabo: Sharf, Dunk on rise for CdM

High Schools

October 26, 2013|By Matt Szabo

The Corona del Mar High girls' tennis doubles team… (Don Leach, Daily…)

One night last week, I got a notification on my phone that I didn't really expect.

It was Corona del Mar High sophomore Siena Sharf. She good-naturedly mentioned me on Twitter, asking me if I had given up on CdM tennis.

Admittedly, it had been a couple of weeks since I had covered the Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 1. I wanted to make it to last weekend's big nonleague 10-8 win over then-No. 7 Santa Barbara, but I had to cover the Orange County Championships cross country meet instead.

When I finally saw CdM play rival University at home on Tuesday, I understood why Sharf might have wanted me to check on the team. Sure, the Sea Kings lost to the Trojans 14-4 for the second straight time in the Pacific Coast League, but the match was much more competitive and the sets were closer. It was an impressive showing from the Sea Kings (15-3).

None were more impressive than Sharf and her doubles partner, freshman Jasie Dunk. They won just one set against University, but were a few points away from sweeping. In their first set, the Sea Kings' No. 2 doubles team handed University's team of Kyla Scott and Marissa Williams its first loss in league, 6-3.

In Sharf and Dunk's second match, they narrowly lost a close one against University's top team of Danielle Pham and Judy Kam, 7-6 (7-4).

"I just think we played really well," said Sharf, who played doubles last year with graduate Sophia Chen. "I never would have expected us to play that well. I don't think they were expecting it, and I wasn't expecting it either."

She should start expecting it. Three days earlier, in the match at Santa Barbara, Sharf and Dunk won the deciding doubles set at the end. If it would have gone to games, the host Dons would have won the match.

Sharf and Dunk are 37-7 this year for CdM as a doubles team, very impressive considering the Sea Kings have played nearly all of the top Division 1 teams. As just a sophomore and freshman, a lot of the future of CdM girls' tennis appears to be in their hands. They will be a team to watch next week at the league tournament.

"I paired them together because of their potential," CdM Coach Brian Ricker said. "They're both tall, they're both mobile and they both have hard serves. The thing they have to fight is not making too many errors, and I want them to get more aggressive at the net."

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